Staying at Lums Pond State Park, Delaware

While visiting with Brian and Rebekah, we have been staying at Lums Pond SP – just about a 15 min drive south of their apartment. This SP is quite nice with a park-like area for campsites and electric hookups.. And yes, that is another Airstream parked to the right of ours.

The pond was quiet and the water still………….

Though most of the trees have lost their leaves, those that remained were beautiful.

And the berries of this Possum Haw (or deciduous Holly) were at their peak….

Having the camper has worked out quite well. We are close enough to Brian’s, then, after a day of visiting, we can head back to the camper for the night………….

Newark, Delaware–visiting with Brian and Rebekah

We are enjoying our week visiting with Brian and Rebekah – just hanging out…….

Though, Bekah had some schoolwork to finish Monday and Tuesday…….

Each day, we all head to a local schoolyard or park with Jade to play ball…….

Jade LOVES to play ball!

At least until the ball got thrown on top of the school’s flat roof…….

No need to fear…..when Brian is here! A quick shimmy up to the roof top…….

And, after tossing the ball….a bit of a jump down.

Then home for a rest!

We will be spending Thanksgiving with Rebekah’s family in Annapolis and are feeling thankful for all our family and friends…… who are definitely present in our hearts, if not at our table.

Heading to Delaware – 2nd night on the road

We spent last night at Dixie Caverns RV park just south of Roanoke, VA. We picked this RV park for the location – just off the interstate and about where we wanted to stop to break the trip up liked we wanted. It wasn’t much of a place, and I probably wouldn’t stay there again, but it was fine for a quick overnight.

Traveling with the Airstream makes this kind of stop much more tolerable. Being self-contained and having our own bathroom, etc means that we do not have to use the rather “nasty” bathrooms at these sorts of parks. And the tight quarters, with RV’s on either side, becomes less of an issue when you can just go inside your own camper and shut the door.

We had a “pull-through” site with full hook-ups and plenty enough room that we didn’t even have to un-hitch from the truck. (The Airstream connects to the truck fairly level, so we are able to just stay hitched up for the night.) We slept comfortably and warm, despite the rather frosty temperatures, and even had a hot shower this morning.

Today is a beautiful day to be cruising over the Blue Ridge Mountains – and we will be in Newark, Delaware this afternoon………

On the road, again……

We are on the road, again, heading to Newark, Delaware to visit Brian and Rebekah for Thanksgiving. I guess, with kids spread across this country, we are destined to be “traveling”. Speaking of which….as we crossed into the Eastern Time Zone, we noted that our family has each of the time zones covered. Brian–Eastern, us–Central, Sarah–Mountain, Laura–Pacific. It makes it a bit hard to keep track of who is doing what / when.

We spent last night at DeSoto SP, Alabama - just south of Chattanooga, TN. The Fall colors are just beautiful and DeSoto SP is lovely, with winding roads and rock outcroppings.This is a beautiful park with lots of nifty things to do close by (pottery and craft shops, antiques, etc). We have, however, only stayed there while “passing through”. We may have to take a few days on our way home to really explore this area.

Towing the Airstream is a bit different than the pop-up, for sure, and requires a bit of a different attitude. We slow down a bit, and just enjoy the driving – this is “a good thing”. Staying in the Airstream also requires a different attitude. “This ain’t camping” – and THAT is a “good thing”, too. It is wonderful to be cozy and warm in a comfortable bed, and so self contained, with a bathroom and kitchen and storage in the camper rather than the car. A real treat on these longer trips.

Sailing at Lake De Gray, Arkansas

Over this past weekend (Nov 12-14), we took a break from our work to go sailing with our friend, Bill at Lake De Gray, Arkansas - about a 3 hour drive north of Farmerville.

We took the Airstream and camped at Iron Mountain Recreational Area. This was a good trial run with the camper before we head up to Delaware for Thanksgiving.

Bill’s boat is docked at the Iron Mountain Marina.

 

Bill captained the boat while Fred lent a hand with the sails.

Sue tries her hand at steering.

 

The Arkansas woods were beautiful with the fall colors.

Saturday evening we came back to the campsite and enjoyed a nice campfire and the crisp, cool Fall weather.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch……..

This past week, the weather was beautiful – clear skies, cool in the morning and warm by afternoon. We took advantage of the nice weather to work on our next “project” . We are finishing up the siding on the cabin – covering over the older siding which was put up with the 1995 and 2004 additions and matching the newer siding on the remodeling that we did in 2007.

 

This project started with a quick trip to ‘Cajun Cypress’ in Baton Rouge to pick up a VERY heavy truck load of siding. Then, with the help of Fred’s tractor, the siding was unloaded and stacked.

 

Next, Sue stains each board (front and back) with TWP - Total Wood Preservative with Honey colored stain. This will protect the siding from insects and water and will give a bit of protection from the natural ‘graying’ due to sun exposure.

Then, Fred takes the board and nails them into place. We are using a horizontal lap pattern.

One wall finished (on the west side). The newer siding is lighter in color than the siding which was put up 2 years ago, due to the natural aging of the wood. In a few years, all the siding should blend together nicely.

Moving on to the back of the cabin…..making good progress, but a ways yet to go…..

1. 

The upstairs will require the use of the scaffolding. That can wait until after Thanksgiving……

Edgewood Plantation – Farmerville, La

Sun. Nov 7th- Fred and I spent this afternoon touring Edgewood Plantation in Farmerville, located on Hwy 2 (going towards Bernice) close to Lake D’Arbonne State Park. Edgewood was built in 1902 by J.D. Baughman, one of the founding families of Farmerville. This house originally sat on 3,000 acres which were farmed in timber, cotton and hogs. Since the early 1900’s, the Baughman family has owned a number of businesses in town, including a pharmacy, and one of the Baughman grandsons is currently our Mayor.

Edgewood had remained in the Baughman family since 1902, but had been unoccupied for a number of years, falling prey to looting and the weather. Last year a developer from Monroe bought Edgewood to save it from being torn down. Presently, the new owners, Pat and Kay Carroll, are in the process of renovating and restoring this old home with plans to open as a Bed & Breakfast in Feb. 2012.

Edgewood was built on elevated foundations, with magnificent porches all around.

The house sports wonderful ‘gingerbread’ detailing.

 

The rock foundations were made from a locally found iron ore.

This front parlor room will be used for weddings and receptions or other special occasions.

This will be one of the guest rooms when it is finished. The walls all have wood lathe that were originally painted, then wall papered over.

This is the only remaining wood fireplace mantles. Much of the original wood work had been taken, as had many of the doors and windows.

This is the ceiling of one room which has been finished…..it hints of the elegance that will be coming.

It is wonderful to see a part of the local history being preserved. I can’t wait until this B & B is open for business. February 2012….Hmmm…...might be a good place to celebrate those February birthdays……….    : )

Adaptations

Is it preferable to adapt oneself to ones environment….or to adapt ones environment to oneself? That is the philosophical – and practical question which we have been struggling with. The pop-up camper gave us a chance to get into this “traveling around” and to see how we liked it. We learned a lot…..We really enjoyed the traveling, and see doing much more of it in the future. However, the pop-up left many things to be desired. The limitations of a soft-sided camper in bear country, as well as the set-up and take down in rainy weather, the overall limitation of space, and the lack of a bathroom were all things that we felt could be remedied by a hard sided camper/trailer.

As we traveled around the country, we looked at other campers, both in campgrounds, and on RV sales lots. After much discussion and comparisons…..we became the proud new owners of an Airstream! The model we decided on is a 2010, 25 ft. Flying Cloud.

This model has panoramic windows front and back, with a queen sized bed in the front and the dinette and lounge in the back.

The door is toward the rear……between the kitchen and the dinette. The dinette benches and table can convert into an extra bed.

The kitchen has a sink (with a cutting board cover), 3 burner stove, convection/microwave oven, and plenty of storage space.

Opposite the kitchen, is the lounge, which pulls out and makes into a double bed. That, plus the dinette bed, gives us plenty of space for company. : )

Note the TV….pretty cool….. This model comes with a TV antenna (for local channels) and a CD/DVD player and speaker system.

Then there is a ‘fridge and freezer, a wardrobe closet, and then the shower next to that. The bathroom is across from the shower.

The bath is tiny, but functional….with a flush toilet and lavatory.

The bed has a little bit of walk room around it, a night stand shelf, and another wardrobe. I love the windows around the bed.

It looks like our first road trip with the new camper will be to Delaware to visit our son, Brian, and his fiancée, Rebekah, over Thanksgiving. After that……who knows……but we look forward to seeing all of our wonderful family and friends……and invite you all to join us in this new adventure. : )